Toy top pivot accessory

ABSTRACT

A twirling structure having a pair of oppositely disposed spinning toy-top-holding portions is supported at its centrally located axis of rotation by an upstanding pedestal portion of a stand or base. The holding portions may be in the form of cups and centrally disposed holes are located at the bottom of the cups in order to center the tops and to allow the tops&#39;&#39; rotating starting tip to come into contact with the cup structure and thereby impart thereto a mechanical couple and cause the structure to twirl about its rotational axis.

United States Patent lnventors John W. Ryan:

Gabriel Marason. .lr.. both of Los Angeles,

Calil. Appl. No. 44,413 Filed June 8, 1970 Patented July 27, 1971 Assignee Mattel, lnc.

Hawthorne, Calif.

TOY TOP PIVOT ACCESSORY 5 Claims, 4 Drawing Figs.

US. Cl 46/47 Int. Cl. A63h 1/32 Field of Search 46/47, 65, 72, 71, 64

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 4/1922 Mann 46/64 X 1,851,223 3/1932 Watanabe 46/64X 3,299,563 1/1967 Arboladura A. 46/72 2,794,294 6/1957 Frangus 46/65 Primary Examiner-Louis G. Mancene Assistant Examiner-D. L, Weinhold Attorney-Seymour A. Scholnick ABSTRACT: A twirling structure having a pair of oppositely disposed spinning toy-top-holding portions is supported at its centrally located axis of rotation by an upstanding pedestal portion of a stand or base. The holding portions may be in the form of cups and centrally disposed holes are located at the bottom of the cups in order to center the tops and to allow the tops rotating starting tip to come into contact with the cup structure and thereby impart thereto a mechanical couple and cause the structure to twirl about its rotational axis.

The background of the invention will be set forth in two parts. q j

1. Field ofthe Invention The present invention pertains generally to the field of toys and more particularly to accessories for use with spinning toy tops for amusement purposes.

2. Description of the Prior Art The use for scientific and amusement purposes of the gyroscopic effect of spinning bodies has' long been known. Generally, in the amusement or toy field, these devices are known as tops or spinning tops. Such tops may take many different forms, some being very simple in construction comprising only a disc transversely mounted along a shaft which is rotated merely by twisting between a users fingers. Others are more elaborate requiring that a cord be wound about a shaft and pulled briskly by its user to impart on the top the desired rotation. More recently, sophisticated top configurations have been developed which utilize some of the techniques used with complicated navigation-type gyroscopic devices.

The art has also tended to develop gyroscopic'toys having less classical appearances. For example, toy tops are now provided with housings which conceal and protect the rotating rim of a hub-supported member so that it will not accidentally come into contact with obstructions or the users hand and thereby cause it to lose momentum. These toys also may include what are generally known as' starting tips mounted on the rotating shaft protruding through the housing and adjacent the end of the shaft whereat the top is generally supported. This starting tip is thus exposed so as to enable an operator to run this tip along a surface to rotate the gyroscopic member relative to its enclosure. I

With the development ofthese greatly advanced toys, much thought and development have gone into providing interesting accessories to be used with spinning tops. Generally, these schemes are stationary or they must be manually moved in order to provide the desired effect. It would therefore be a significant advancement of the art to provide an accessory for spinning tops that is capable of interesting and amusing movement, where the motivation power is derived from the spinning tops themselves.

SUMMARY OF THEINVENTION In view of the foregoing factors and conditions characteristic of the prior art, it is a primary object of thepresent invention to provide a toy top pivot accessory not subject to the disadvantages enumerated above and having a twirling topholding structure.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a simple, yet extremely interesting and amusing, toy top pivot accessory which is propelled by the rotational energy of spinning toy tops having enclosed housings and exposed starting tips.

According to the present invention, a toy top pivot acccssory for use with spinning tops having exposed starting tips. includes a stand with an upstanding pedestal portion and twirling means including a platform rotatably mountable on the pedestal portion. The platform includes spaced toy-topholding portions oppositely disposed of but equally spaced from the axis of platform rotation.

The toy-top-holding portions may be cup members having vertical spinning top axes coaxial with the internal dimensions ofthe cup members and both lying in the same common plane with the axis of rotation of the rotatably mounted platform.

The features of the present invention which are believed to be novel are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The present invention, both as to its organization and manner of operation, together with further objects and advantages thereof, may best be understood by referenceto the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which like reference characters refer to like elements in the several views.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE mtxwmos FIG. 1 is a perspective view, partly in cross section of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view, in elevation, of the pedestal portion ofthe device shown in FIG. 1 taken along line 2-2;

FIG. 3 is another perspective view of the invention showing it in operation with spinning toy tops having exposed starting tips; and

FIG. 4 is an elevational cross-sectional view of a cup portion of the twirling platform seen in FIGS. 1 and 3.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT I Referring again to the drawings and more particularly to F IGS'. l and 3,.there is shown a toy top pivot accessory 11 for use with spinning'tops 13 having exposed starting tips 15. The accessory includes a stand 17 with an upstanding pedestal portion 19 and twirling means including a platform 21 rotatably mounted on the pedestal portion 19. The platform is provided with spaced toy-top-holding portions 23 oppositely disposed but equally spaced from the axis of rotation of the platform, generally designated by reference numeral 27.

The stand 17 has a relatively wide base portion 29, and the pedestal portion 19 includes an uppermost tip 31 extending into a bearing opening 33 in the bottom of the platform 21 midway along its length. r

In the presently preferred embodiment illustrated, the identical top-holding portions 23 are fabricated in the form of cups with sides 35, a sloping inner wall portion 37, a straightsided wall 39 forming a starting tip-housing portion 41, and a top support floor portion 43 at the bottom thereof. Centered in the floor 43 is a tip-accepting aperture 45 wherein the tops slightly extended shaft tip 47 extends. For purposes to be later described, the diameter of the aperture 45 is somewhat greater than the outer diameter of the tip 47 so that the top 13 is actually supported by the lower surface of the starting tip 15 sitting on the floor portion 43 adjacent the aperture 45.

In operation, the stand is set up with its base portion 29 preferably resting on a substantially horizontal surface, such as a tabletop or'floor 48, for example. The twirling platform 21 is then positioned so that the tip 31 of the stands pedestal portion 19 is disposed in the journal opening of and rotatably supports the platform 21. It will be noted in FIG. 2 that the pedestal portion 19 includes two generally cylindrical outer surfaces, a lower portion 49 and a reduced-diameter tapered portion 51. The inner walls of the journal opening 33 generally conform to this pedestal portion configuration except for its inner wall 53. This inner wall (adjacent the tapered pedestal portion 51) has parallel sides so that the lower extremity thereof, adjacent a step section 55, is only slightly larger in inner diameter than the other diameter of the tapered portion 51 and acts as a bearing surface 57. Thus, the platform 21 is supported vertically by the relatively pointed uppermost tip 31 in contact with'a ceiling member 59 of the opening 33, while the relatively small area annular bearing surface 57 acts on the tapered portion 51 to prevent excessive lateral play without introducing high frictional resistance to rotational movement ofthe platform 21.

Two spinning tops 13 may then be placed with their rotating tips 47 extending into the respective apertures 45 in the topholding portions 23. The lower portion of FIG. 3 illustrates that this type of toy top may be activated by the user gripping the top's outer casing or housing 61 with his hand 63 and moving his arm in a direction 65, generally orthogonal to the tops axis of shaft rotation, with the starting tip 15 of the top in contact with the surface 48. This action causes the starting tip to rotate at a very high rate of speed in the direction-indicated by arrow 67.

Where both tops are approximately of the same, or nearly the same, weight, the platform 21 will be balanced on the pedestal portion 19 and free to rotate about the axis of rotation 27. The motivating force which causes the platform to rotate in this manner is provided by the action of the rotating starting tips rubbing on the floor portion 43. It will be noted that the rotational movement of the starting tip on the floor portion is spaced from the center of rotation of the tops rotating shaft, and since both tops are rotating in the same direction, a mechanical couple is introduced at these points which provides the force necessary to cause the platform 21 to rotate in a complementary direction 69.

As can be seen from the drawings, the particular housing style of the tops is not important as long as it allows the starting tip 15 and shaft tip 47 to be properly positioned. In fact, the platform may be fabricated without a cuplike top-holding structure as long as the aperture 45 is provided to allow the tops rotating starting tip 15 to ride on the floor portion 43. Of course, in that case, the tops would topple from the platform when their rotational energy is spent. it should also be understood that the starting tips need not rotate in the direction indicated but may also be caused to rotate in the opposite direction. This would cause the platform 21 to also rotate in the direction opposite that indicated. However, both tops must be rotated in the same direction in order to cause the platform to rotate.

From the foregoing, it should be clear that there has been provided an extremely efficient, novel and entertaining toy top pivot accessory which utilizes spinning toy tops having external starting tips.

The materials, the particular structure utilized, and the method of fabrication of the disclosed device are not critical and any suitable material such as a high impact styrene plastic and injection molding techniques may be employed.

It should further be clear that the invention is susceptible to numerous modifications and embodiments within the knowledge of one skilled in the art.

What we claim is:

1. A toy top pivot accessory for use with spinning tops having exposed starting tips, comprising:

a stand with an upstanding pedestal portion; and

twirling means including a platform rotatably mountable on said pedestal portion, said platform including spaced toytop-holding portions oppositely disposed of but equally spaced from the axis of rotation of said platform.

2. A toy top pivot accessory according to claim 1, wherein said toy-top-holding portions are cup members having vertical spinning top axes coaxial with the internal dimensions of said cup members, said spinning top axes both lying in the same common place with said axis of rotation.

3. A toy top pivot accessory according to claim 2, wherein each of said cup members also include starting tip-engaging means for providing a mechanical couple to said platform to cause it to rotate about said axis of rotation.

4. A toy top pivot accessory according to claim 3, wherein said starting tip-engaging means is a hole in the bottom of and centrally located in the cup structures.

5. A toy top pivot accessory according to claim 3, wherein said platform also includes a cross member at opposite ends of which said cup members are disposed, said axis of rotation being at a point midway along the length of said cross member and orthogonal thereto, said cross member including a thrust bearing coaxial to said axis of rotation and having a downwardly exposed opening to accept the pedestal portion of said stand. 

1. A toy top pivot accessory for use with spinning tops having exposed starting tips, comprising: a stand with an upstanding pedestal portion; and twirling means including a platform rotatably mountable on said pedestal portion, said platform including spaced toy-topholding portions oppositely disposed of but equally spaced from the axis of rotation of said platform.
 2. A toy top pivot accessory according to claim 1, wherein said toy-top-holding portions are cup members having vertical spinning top axes coaxial with the internal dimensions of said cup members, said spinning top axes both lying in the same common plane with said axis of rotation.
 3. A toy top pivot accessory according to claim 2, wherein each of said cup members also include starting tip-engaging means for providing a mechanical couple to said platform to cause it to rotate about said axis of roTation.
 4. A toy top pivot accessory according to claim 3, wherein said starting tip-engaging means is a hole in the bottom of and centrally located in the cup structures.
 5. A toy top pivot accessory according to claim 3, wherein said platform also includes a cross member at opposite ends of which said cup members are disposed, said axis of rotation being at a point midway along the length of said cross member and orthogonal thereto, said cross member including a thrust bearing coaxial to said axis of rotation and having a downwardly exposed opening to accept the pedestal portion of said stand. 